Gospel – Kingdom Realized

February 10, 2022
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BAPTIZO

Category : Gospel , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Baptism is so crucial in our walk with Christ, yet its significance is widely misunderstood in the Church. Many see it simply as an expression of our commitment to Christ, or just the next step in the religious order of things. Baptism is so much deeper than that. It is our obedient act in the physical, which is the proper response to what Jesus did in the spiritual. We physically experience what Jesus accomplished spiritually – there is no separation between the two. Jesus is the transformer, but if we have agreed to give our lives to Him, it requires a response from us. He works in cooperation with us – not by Himself, apart from our agreement. We are saved by grace through faith, and faith without works is dead, so simply believing in Jesus is not enough… even demons believe in Jesus! Our belief requires an act of faith, otherwise it is dead and ineffectual in this physical realm that we live in.

Baptism may not be necessary for the salvation of our souls, but it has everything to do with the sanctification of our flesh. When we are born again by the Spirit, He regenerates our souls and we are saved into eternal relationship with Him. Even this requires a physical act of faith – we must confess it with our mouths(Rom. 10:9). When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, this too requires a physical act of faith by asking for it. The typical physical response to His baptism then is the manifestation of an unknown tongue – our prayer language. Even if that doesn’t manifest right away, we will manifest a boldness to proclaim the gospel to others. Baptism is our physical act of faith for the salvation of our flesh – it’s like our flesh is born again in the water. We are being sanctified in our flesh, and the beginning of that process is water baptism, in which we identify with Christ crucifying our flesh on the cross, burying it in the grave and we receive His grace to make that act of faith a reality in the water. We die to our flesh in the water and Jesus delivers us from it. It is both a water grave and a water womb. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. After Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was taken in by a disciple named Ananias. Ananias laid hands on Paul for the recovery of his sight, and then said to him “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” – Acts 22:16. This was not for a public display of Paul’s commitment to Christ. This was to bring Paul’s flesh into alignment with the will of Christ.

Jesus too was water baptized, and He was baptized in the Holy Spirit on the same occasion. This example and model was followed very closely by the early Church. Salvation, water baptism and the baptism in the Holy Spirit were all part of the same package and done as closely as possible to each other. When Jesus was baptized, He told John “for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” – Matthew 3:15. Jesus was righteous and had no need of John’s baptism unto repentance, because He was born right the first time – in right standing with His Father and with the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him. He was fulfilling the righteousness of the Old Covenant pattern and revealing what He would fulfill to initiate the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit came upon Him and remained, unlike when the Holy Spirit would come upon some in the Old Testament to anoint them temporarily for a purpose. The Holy Spirit remained on Jesus because He was the righteous temple of God. Jesus instructed us as His disciples to baptize other disciples in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit(Mat. 28:19). This is also a spiritual baptism… In the Greek, the word ‘baptism’ is baptizo and means to immerse. The word ‘name’ is onoma and means a person’s authority and character. So we are to immerse disciples into the authority and character of our Triune God. Notice that Jesus didn’t say to baptize them in the name of Yahweh and Yeshua and Holy Spirit… The early Church baptized disciples into Christ, and that is what they said when they immersed. So when they were baptizing disciples into Christ, they were immersing them into the authority and character of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The act of baptism began with the brazen laver that was between the brazen altar and the Tabernacle of Moses. After sacrificing animals for atonement, and prior to entering the holy place, the priests were required to cleanse themselves, lest they die. They would cleanse themselves in the brazen laver. Interestingly, the laver was made with mirrors that the women had brought from their captivity in Egypt. When the priest looked into the laver, he would see himself unclean and then washed by the water in the laver. He would then no longer see a captive, but one who was cleansed and made free. This is like us coming to our Lord unclean, but then washing ourselves in the water of the Word. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. We are no longer captives to Egypt(our unclean enemy and the flesh), but we have been washed clean and granted access into the holy place, even the Holy of holies!

Later in history, Jews began to use the Mikveh. This is a pool used for ceremonial cleansing, and we can also see this in Jesus’ baptism. The mikveh can be used for one to ceremonially cleanse before entering ministry, which is exactly what Jesus did. A side note to that is that the Holy Spirit then came upon Him, and we don’t want to try to accomplish any type of ministry that the Holy Spirit is not a part of! Modern baptism in the Church typically follows something similar to John’s baptism, but we are seeing God use baptism in many ways today, because as I mentioned earlier, it has everything to do with the sanctification of the flesh. God has led the North Georgia Revival and others to use baptism as a contact point for Him to meet people in the water and minister whatever it is that He wants to minister to them – whether it be a baptism into Christ, a mikveh type of baptism, baptism for physical, mental and emotional or relational healing, deliverance or whatever the Lord has for them. His Fire comes upon the water, and His Spirit is present, and it’s absolutely beautiful! I believe that God is once again trying to show how important water baptism is to Him. He is not simply trying to display His uniqueness in the various ways that revival shows up in the Church. Throughout Church history, God has brought various revelations to His body to reveal another aspect of who He is to the body of Christ. Unfortunately, it’s usually not received by all and our enemy tries to steal it away, and so we end up with many different denominations who have focuses on very specific aspects of God but miss the full revelation of who He is. We can learn something about God from each and every denomination, which is why God wants to break down all denominational walls and unify His body. He wants us to come together in the perfect bond of unity, which is Love(Col. 3:14). By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another – John 13:35.

Baptism is a beautiful thing. Not only that, Jesus commanded it. He said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments(John 14:15), which simply put is to Love. If we don’t obey Him, then we don’t truly love Him, and He is not our Lord. The brazen laver and the mikveh were types and shadows of what Jesus would bring through the New Covenant. He has washed us clean and made us new, and He gave us an example to follow in water baptism. I pray that you experience the joy of your salvation – not just the salvation of your soul, but the joy of obeying Jesus and experiencing the sanctification of your flesh in a water grave and a water womb. Salvation includes healing, deliverance, protection, wholeness, safety and soundness of mind. I pray that you encounter His Spirit and experience His Fire like never before! As my Pastor would say “DIE WELL”.

May 11, 2018
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PERFECTION

Tags : holiness perfect righteousness sin

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

If you are born again by the Spirit of God, YOU ARE PERFECT!!!
Many think that we have to wait until we get to heaven to be perfect… we say things like well, I’m not perfect or nobody’s perfect! or even worse I’ll NEVER be perfect. The thing is, this is contrary to what is taught in the Word of God! In Matthew 5:48, Jesus commands us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:15 – Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. James 1:4 says – And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Hebrews 10:14 says – For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. I think the problem lies in our modern definitions of words like perfect and sin. After reading all the verses in the Bible with the word perfect in them, it seems that a common theme or context that this word is used in has to do with love and unity, and of course Scripture also tells us that love is the perfect bond of unity. Jesus is called the Perfect, yet He fashioned a whip to take into the temple, which was not intended to be used as a threat… Did Jesus ever make threats? No – He said let your yes be yes and your no be no – He never made threats! He listened to His Father and acted on what He heard. He flipped the tables of the money changers and used His whip to drive them out of the temple. He constantly insulted and called the Pharisees names, yet He is perfect love and was without sin.

I believe that being perfect simply means to walk in love. It’s to walk in our original design. We were created in the image and likeness of God, who is love. Before there was original sin there was original innocence and original glory with the Father. Jesus redeemed us and reconciled us back to the Father – He restored all things by buying back our identity and nature that we gave away to the thief in the Garden of Eden. Sin is simply anything unloving. The Ten Commandments are all about loving God and loving people, and that is exactly how Jesus summarized them. So to sin is to put yourself before God and others, and Jesus said that we aren’t able to do that if we want to follow Him. “If anyone wishes to follow Me, they must first deny themselves and take up their cross”. This is the death of our flesh and selfishness, which hinders us from living a life of love. In Ezekiel 36 it is prophesied that God would give us a new heart – a soft heart. It is this heart that God has written His laws on, and by the grace of His Spirit inhabiting this heart we can walk holy, righteous and worthy of our calling before the Lord. This is why Jesus came – to reconcile us to our holy Father by making it possible for His Holy Spirit to live in us so that we can maintain relationship with a holy God. Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to sanctify us and make us holy. Hebrews 10 tells us that if we continue in sin(a pattern of sin) there no longer remains a sacrifice for it and we are trampling on Jesus and His sacrifice and outraging the Holy Spirit. What if we are weak and mess up, rather than letting His strength be made perfect in our weakness? Jesus is our advocate before the Father and intercedes for us day and night, as does the Holy Spirit. We will be forgiven, but we mustn’t take this for granted and we need to make every effort to submit to God and resist the devil, because He has made us free from the law of sin and death, and Jesus came to free us from our sins. So now we can walk in true freedom from the bondage to sin and we can be perfect in love, even as our Father is perfect. Of course we don’t have the strength in our flesh to live this way. We must depend upon the Holy Spirit as Jesus did by spending time with Him in prayer and fasting. This is the only way to follow Jesus to the Father. We can’t follow Him if we don’t spend time with Him. So I pray that we all realize exactly what Jesus has done for us so that we can believe the truth that sets us free from ourselves and provides the grace to be perfect!

January 5, 2018
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Sanctification

Tags : bride church Father God Holy Spirit Jesus light; glory; truth;love Word

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Our most innocent moment in life is when we are born. At our birth, all that we are acquainted with is the One who breathed life into us and intimacy with our Mother – we’ve yet to be tainted by anything that the world may send our way… Since the time of Adam and Eve, we are born into a fallen state, which is why Jesus said that we must be born again. This is very apparent when we observe our children, as wonderful as they can be. Jesus is the last Adam who has redeemed us from our fallen state if we choose to be born again by His Spirit. I might write more about this another time, but all of creation is waiting for us to represent our Father and live the redeemed life, because Jesus has redeemed the entire world. However, He gave the dominion back to us that we had relinquished to Satan in the garden, and He has left it up to us to believe Him, follow Him, represent Him and resurrect all that has fallen, by the power of His Spirit living in us.

Sanctification is what I am writing about today, and the revelation of the fact that it should be a joy to be sanctified. We get to become like Jesus – not when we die, but in this life! If we can’t be free from sin until we die, then death has become our savior instead of Jesus! Jesus laid down His divinity and did all that He did as the son of man relying upon the same Holy Spirit whom He has sent to live in us. He paid the ultimate price for us to never utter the words “that was Jesus, not me”, or “well, I’m not Jesus”. Jesus’ life was an example to us of what our lives can look like if we submit to our Father and His will and leading. This is how we resist the devil – we submit to our Father. It’s a one-step program! James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. We don’t resist the devil in our own strength. When we are submitted to God, the devil is resisted automatically, and we don’t even need to give him any attention. In fact, Satan loves attention, and he is actually enlivened the more we give him attention and focus on him. Father desires all of our affection and attention, and if He is for us it doesn’t matter who is against us! I say all this because it pertains to our sanctification process. We must be completely submitted and sold-out to God.

If we rest in the Lord and do all that we do from rest in Him, sanctification can be a joy. It’s God doing the sanctifying, so all we need to do is spend time with Him and rest in Him. Anything else is striving from our own strength. If we are in Him, then we will do from our being, rather than be from our doing. If you’re like me, you may get frustrated and impatient with the sanctification process. We all want to be like Jesus right now! I realize though that this frustration can come from a place of striving. I don’t know why some people seem to be sanctified more quickly than others, but God wants to use every step in our sanctification to bring Him glory and reveal His goodness to others. That’s a joyful thing! As we testify to others about how God has transformed us, He uses it to draw them to Him.

God is not at all surprised by our mistakes, and if we acknowledge them, they exist no more. It’s only when we hang on to them and allow guilt, shame and condemnation from the enemy to rule our minds that we distance ourselves from our Father. This is why we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds daily. He is right there desiring for us to be fully convinced that we are forgiven, righteous and empowered by His grace to have victory over our failures and to be more and more sanctified as we keep our eyes fixed on Him. Beating ourselves up over our failures becomes very self-focused and counter-productive to what Father desires to do in our hearts. If He doesn’t see us that way, then neither should we. In fact, it’s when we spend time with Him that we begin to see ourselves the way He does and He is able to transform our hearts into hearts of love and sanctify us. We then have Father’s love in our hearts and are able to walk like Jesus and truly love those in the world around us. Our sanctified hearts allow us to feel the same love for people that our Father does. So I hope that we can all learn together how to simply enjoy the sanctification process and truly be joyful in every victory, as well as every learning experience(failure) – trusting and knowing that He is transforming us into His image and likeness of love.

October 23, 2017
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PAIN

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Nobody likes pain! There is nothing worse than living life in pain – even minor pains or limited mobility sometimes feel like a game-stopper in our lives… just the temporary limited use of a finger can be a huge hindrance in our daily activities. As uncomfortable as it is, I dare say that pain is a good thing! If we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t become aware of the malfunctioning parts of our physical body that need attention in order to function properly again. I like an old Marine Corps t-shirt I have that says “Pain Is Just Weakness Leaving The Body”. I bought it years ago because I used to be a Marine, and it sounded tough. The fact is, in a way it’s true! Pain reveals a weak area that needs to be strengthened, and when we address the need the pain will leave.

I say all this as I am dealing with pain in my right knee that I declare must go! Maybe I need to go to the doctor, but I know that even the secular medical community has discovered that approximately 80% of physical symptoms in a patient have emotional roots. Even if it was a genetic thing like arthritis etc., the source would be a demonic influence on an ancestor’s physical body that was then passed down through the bloodline to descendants. It’s not something that God wrote into the genetic code. God doesn’t perpetuate sickness, illness, disease, hurts and pains – these are contrary to His nature, which is why we are healed by the stripes of Jesus! One of God’s names is Jehovah Rapha – I am the God of healing.

Emotional pain is much like physical pain, and as I mentioned earlier they are quite connected. If we are feeling anything other than peace and joy, it’s an indicator that something in our heart needs attention. We are to diligently watch over our heart, for out of it flows the issues of life – Proverbs 4:23. The heart is comprised of our soul, and our enlivened spirit if we belong to Jesus. The soul is our mind, will, emotions, intellect, personality and imagination. These parts of our heart influence the various areas of our lives ie. relationships, work ethic, finances, self-discipline, hobbies etc. If our soul gets wounded by our own sins or the sins of others against us, we feel emotional pain. Feelings aren’t always facts, but nonetheless we feel pain even if it is something we simply perceive incorrectly through the lenses of our wounded soul. This is an indicator that something needs attention… When we give our lives to Christ, we die to ourselves in order to do that, but often the enemy of our soul tries to resurrect what has been put to death – all the wounds we had in our soul. When we recognize the resurrection of this pain, we simply need to realize that Jesus already won the victory over it and gave us authority and dominion to resist the enemy’s lies and to trample him underfoot. Just release the pain to Jesus, let His blood wash it away and enjoy the warmth of His powerful healing presence. Agree with what Jesus has done and command the source of that pain to go in Jesus’ Name until you feel released from it!

I pray that you prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers – 3 John 1:2

October 1, 2017
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The VEIL

Tags : Father heaven on earth Holy Spirit Jesus rent veil

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was completely torn in two. Some say that this veil was three feet thick! The tearing of this physical veil represents the tearing of the spiritual veil between heaven and earth. Jesus housed the Holy Spirit in His physical body – for all the fullness of the Godhead dwelled bodily in Christ Jesus, and you too have been brought to fullness in Him who is the Head over all power and authority – Colossians 2:9-10. When His body was torn open, it was the tearing of the physical veil to release the Holy Spirit. The water coming from His pierced side reveals this. There is no longer a separation between God and man! Thank you Jesus! Every person can be reconciled to the Father and have a relationship with Him like Jesus did. The joy set before Jesus was realized, and He is receiving payment for the price He paid… a beautiful bride and body to dwell in and represent Him on the earth from that day forward. It is available to all who will take up their cross, die to themselves and follow Jesus – Scripture reveals that this is what believing on the Lord Jesus Christ means. Follow Him where? Into a relationship with Father God through the indwelling of their Spirit in us!

Every covenant is sealed by blood, and God made a new covenant with man by the blood of Jesus Christ. His precious blood was shed on Calvary, and the veil was torn between heaven and earth – the physical realm was now able to break into the spiritual realm. There was also blood shed, a release of water and a veil torn at the birth of Jesus. Mary was a virgin so the physical veil in her body(hymen) hadn’t been broken by a man from the outside. Holy Spirit put the seed of God inside Mary so when Jesus was born, the Spirit of God tore Mary’s veil from the inside and broke into the physical realm through the birth of Jesus. Now for the first time in the history of mankind, a man housed the indwelling Holy Spirit. Of course when John later baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and remained – this was His baptism in the Holy Spirit, which empowered Him to then go about and perform signs, wonders and miracles after defeating Satan’s temptations in the desert. He did all that He did as a man fully dependent upon Holy Spirit, because Philippians 2:6-8 reveals that He willingly laid down His divinity while here on earth.

Notice that God came into the physical realm first and then made it possible for us to go into the spiritual realm. Also note that man plants seeds in many ways, but always from the outside-in… God plants seeds on the inside of us so that they will grow from the inside-out, transforming us into a beautiful, mature tree like Jesus. Metaphorically, I believe Jesus was the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, and when he grew up as a man, the seed of God in Him was growing Him into a beautiful, fully mature fruit-bearing tree that all can eat of and taste and see the goodness of God. When we partake of the fruit of Jesus, seeds of His light and truth are implanted in us to grow and mature into the same kind of tree so that others can taste and see God’s goodness through partaking of the Jesus we have to offer them through our humble, self-sacrificial lives.

Jesus told us to pray to our holy, heavenly Father “Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. He wouldn’t have said this if it wasn’t possible. We simply need to agree with our Father for His revealed will and it will happen. The veil has been torn, and we can now go boldly before the throne of Grace. There is no longer a separation between heaven and earth! Though in earthly bodies, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus(Ephesians 2) – we have been given authority over the physical realm through Christ Jesus living in us by His Holy Spirit. Be blessed today, and let’s live in the reality of heaven on earth by our Lord Jesus Christ who tore the veil forever!

August 24, 2017
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The WORD became flesh!

Tags : blood bread communion cornerstone Father flesh God holy Holy Spirit Jesus revelation wine Word

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

The Word became flesh so that flesh could become the Word! Jesus is the Word of God because He lived His life completely led by His Father through the Holy Spirit. He walked perfectly as a man because He only did what His Father led Him to do – He was sustained and compelled by revelation from His Father. Jesus said that He could only do what He saw His Father doing – John 5:19.

When we take communion, we eat of the body of Christ because His perfect body makes ours holy and whole – it represents our flesh becoming like His. When Jesus hung on the cross, He was marred beyond recognition, worse than anyone before. He was unrecognizable as a man because He had taken all the ugliness and false identity off of us and onto Himself – He took the ugliness of all the lies we had believed and exchanged them for His Truth, revealing our true identity as children of God created in His image and likeness. This is how our flesh becomes the Word… Jesus sent His Spirit to live in those who believe Him and choose to follow His commands. The Spirit then gives us His grace to empower us to walk in our new identity and be transformed into His image and likeness and become partakers of the divine nature with Christ – 2 Peter 1:4. So when we drink the wine in communion we are remembering that the blood of Jesus has made us clean and a holy vessel able to house God Himself – we are partaking of the DNA of Jesus because we are now part of the family of God. When we eat the bread, we are partaking of the Bread of Life and subjecting our flesh to the Word of God living in us by His Spirit.

In Matthew 16, Peter confesses to Jesus that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then calls Him blessed for getting this revelation from His Father and goes on to say that on this rock He would build His church. Jesus is obviously the Rock, as He is the Cornerstone of the foundation of the church, but I believe the rock He is referring to here is the rock of revelation from our Father, which is inseparable from Jesus anyway since He is the Word(revelation of God) made flesh. In Isaiah 55 God said that His Word will not return to Him void. In other words, when it hits the mark in our surrendered hearts, it becomes a seed that will grow into a tree and bear much fruit. Therefore, it will not return to God void or empty.

God’s revelation to us has always been the foundation of His church – it was through the prophets and the giving of the law; it was through Jesus, and it is still today through His Spirit leading and guiding us into all truth!

August 22, 2017
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ECLIPSE

Tags : eclipse light; glory; truth;

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Few things spark as much deep thought and reflection as seemingly visible supernatural events in the physical atmosphere around us. The solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 was beautiful and amazing! Many said they felt small in the big scheme of things, and many had emotional responses to the wonder of the sun being blocked out during the day and all that could be seen and taken in during those moments. It was stunning. Some even received revelation from our Father who created these celestial bodies of a new beginning to a bright future in relationship with Him.

One thing I noticed during the totality of the eclipse was that even though there was an approximately 93% eclipse of the sun in my location, it was still quite light outside… The spiritual correlation here is what I am writing about today. The light of Jesus is so bright that it doesn’t take much to illuminate a situation, and He has made us to be the light of the world – Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. We have been given the ministry of reconciling others to our Father so we must let our light shine in order for that to happen.

Darkness is simply the absence of light – it is a lie, and the light is the truth. We have the Spirit of truth in us, and the lies of the enemy should be exposed when we walk into a room. No one ever walks into a dark room and says hey – turn down the darkness! That doesn’t work. We walk into the room and turn on the light, and this is what should happen when we are around. We shed the light of Truth on every dark lie that is spoken around us or to us. If we remain in constant communion with Jesus, one person can light up a whole building. Just like 7% of the sun still makes it look like daytime outside, one person can change the whole atmosphere in a room! We have the light of Jesus in us and that can never be completely eclipsed by darkness. He is greater, and His light will always illuminate and obliterate the dark.

August 6, 2017
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DESTINY

Tags : destiny purpose

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Your existence has divine purpose! The steps of a good and righteous man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way – Psalm 37:23. Even if just for the Fathers’ delight, there is no triviality in your being. You are fearfully and wonderfully made – Psalm 139:14! Truly, in our own strength we flounder at best, yet in the presence of our Creator our strength is neither needed nor welcome – we have a much greater strength at work in the very core of our being – God Himself has chosen to take up residence and abide in the masterpiece of His creation. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts – Zechariah 4:6. Humility cannot be embraced enough, though we needn’t diminish the value that our Lord has placed in us in order to exalt the greatness and sovereignty of the Almighty. The fact that we come from the very mind and imagination of God imparts to us a value and worth beyond human comprehension. We don’t need to pray “less of me, more of You Lord” or “none of me God – all of You!” The heart – motive in those prayers is pure, but if God wanted less of us or none of us, He wouldn’t have created us. That particular scripture passage has nothing to do with us in the New Covenant church. I like to pray that God cover every part of me with His fullness.

God created you for such a time as this to manifest Him and represent Jesus to those you come in contact with in your daily life – every person we come in contact with is a divine encounter, because the Divine lives in us and desires that all would come to the saving knowledge of the truth in Jesus Christ – 1 Timothy 2:4. We are His workmanship (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them – Ephesians 2:10. So in conclusion, God has a purpose for you being created at this time in history to impact those in your sphere of influence for His kingdom – you are part of His plan, and what you do with your life is matters!

August 1, 2017
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UNITY

Tags : body of Christ bride church Jesus kingdom love unity

Category : Gospel , Uncategorized , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

^{John 17:20}“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. ²¹I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.²²“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ²³I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Jesus cared so much about the unity of His church that He prayed to the Father about it! He never desired the disunity and division that has risen up in His bride because of differences in understanding of Scripture. This is why He desired a unity in His Spirit – Ephesians 4. His Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all truth. If we are being led by God’s Spirit rather than our carnal understanding, our individual conclusions will be homogeneous, or at least synergistic with the conclusions of our brothers and sisters.

Throughout the history of the church, God has been speaking loudly to His people about the things that concern Him ie. Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic institution and church system and tried to bring the church back to its roots found in the book of Acts, though he ultimately failed in that task. His primary contribution to the church was understanding justification by faith, without which it is impossible to please God. The Baptists came with a focus on the importance of water baptism, which can’t be emphasized enough and seems to have been forgotten for the most part by the church… John Wesley and the Methodist church came with a focus on the sanctification of the believer – so important. The Adventists came with a focus on the second coming of Christ, and who wouldn’t want to be prepared for that?! Charles Finney and DL Moody came with a focus on baptism with the Holy Spirit, without which we aren’t empowered to walk in holiness and obey the Great Commission. Pentecostalism came with a focus on the gift of the Holy Spirit – He is my best friend, and I am nothing without Him! The Apostolic church came in the early 1900’s with a focus on the five-fold ministry in the church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are all critical to the body of Christ being built up and functioning as it was designed to.

There are and has been many more denominations and influential people in the church as a whole, but the reason I mentioned these few is to show how God has has used all of them but did not intend for them to become denominations with a near-singular focus. They were intended to build upon each other, or inter-connect like building blocks to bring about a fuller expression of Jesus in the church. All of these focuses are great and were never meant to stand alone. If we could glean the good from all of them and humbly combine our knowledge, wisdom and understanding, the church would be amazing! It would be a beautiful, unified bride that Christ would excitedly present to the Father! My wife and I attended a public multi-church worship and prayer event recently, and it was awesome! It was so good to see these churches from different denominations unifying under the banner of Love for God, each other, and the surrounding community. This is desperately needed in the church today if we are to move forward as Christ’s body and advance His kingdom in all the earth. Let’s arise in unity body of Christ and take back territory for our King!

July 26, 2017
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The Kingdom!

Tags : dominion garden of Eden God Holy Spirit Jesus kingdom kingdom of God kingdom of Heaven Spirit

Category : Gospel , Words of Wisdom - Biblical Truth

Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you – Luke 17:21. He made it possible for every person to be a habitation for the Spirit of God! When Jesus was questioned by Pontius Pilate concerning whether or not it was true that He had claimed to be a king, as the Jews had accused Him of, He told Pilate that what he had spoken was right, but that His kingdom was not of this world – John 18. In fact, it is not a kingdom of the physical world we see around us – it is a kingdom of the unseen spiritual world around us and in us. He longs to be the King of every person’s heart! He desires for us to walk in His kingdom by faith, rather than by sight – 2 Cor. 5:7. When we read the book of Hebrews, we see that faith is actually obedience to the Holy Spirit. In other words, we are sheep who know our Shepherd King’s voice and follow Him, and a strangers voice we will not follow – John 10:27. It’s that still, small voice of His Spirit in us leading and guiding us into the best that He has for us and those whom He wants us to influence for His kingdom.

The word kingdom means the king’s domain… Jesus’ domain is in the Spirit. He also came to restore our dominion over the physical realm we live in. Luke 19:10 says that “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The reason He refers to Himself here as the Son of Man, rather than the Son of God is because He is dealing with things that relate to His human nature and the physical realm. That which was lost was our identity as children of God and our dominion over the earth. In the garden of Eden, which means “the place of His presence” Adam and Eve relinquished our dominion over to Satan and gave up the very image and nature that we were created in, taking on the sin nature of Satan and therefore being banished from intimate and eternal relationship with God in the place of His presence. Jesus has restored everything to those who choose to follow Him! As a man dependent upon the Holy Spirit(He willingly gave up His divine rights) He defeated Satan and won back our identity as children of God and our dominion over the physical realm we live in. So because we agree with Jesus’ dominion over us and surrender our hearts to Him, we have dominion over our flesh and the physical world around us. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God – Romans 8:14. God gave one Son to redeem many sons – Galatians 4. This is what the kingdom of God is all about, and Jesus has commissioned us to advance His kingdom into all the earth, reconciling everyone to their Father so that we would all come to the understanding that we are hidden in Christ Jesus our King, whom God has seated us with in heavenly places(Ephesians 2:6) and made His enemies a footstool under His feet.

Category Archives: Gospel

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